A Tale of Two Brothers

It is the happiest of times. It is the bluest of times. It is the promise of love. It is the dread of the future. It is two teen brothers caught in the middle of a tragic divorce.
Willard and Charles Dareem slam their bedroom door to shut out the vicious bickering echoing from their parents’ bedroom. The brothers sink into an uneasy quiet, each one engulfed in a mindless preoccupation. Willard, his books. Charles, his music.

Twins by birth, Willard and Charles are identical in features, height, weight, and even voice. Their childhood is filled with stories of faithful loyalty and sappy brotherly love. Walking alike. Thinking alike. Loving alike.

Yet the cloud of division looms overhead, promising to separate them forever. Willard eyes the break-up nervously. He knows mother plans to leave their island home for America. She often talks of the American paved roads and slick tall buildings. The endless shops. The big houses. The American schools that are far better than the small island academies.

Mother wants to take Willard with her. The smart one, she calls him. But not Charles. Charles, the free one, is to stay with father. He is to remain within the confines of the stifling tropical heat and a half-empty bedroom. He is to live with father and continue father’s legacy of fish farming for the local market.

The brothers try to maintain their unflappable unity, but the family drama seeps into their bond causing a temporary rift. Willard and Charles fight dreadfully, almost undoing years of brotherly formation. Ever so small seeds of hate are quietly planting in their hearts as the hostility continues.

Then a change comes through an unlikely occurrence. The Dareem brothers soon find a way to reconcile despite the frustrations of their new realities.